How to Remember What You Have Learned Every Day
Many of us spend a little time each day writing about what is happening in our life, or how we feel, or what we are grateful for.
Whether you’re keeping the Morning Pages or keeping a one-sentence diary , consider adding another element to your daily ritual: writing down what you’ve learned .
Or, as economist Tyler Cowen put it:
Every day I ask myself, “What have I learned today?” – a question that I heard from Amihai Glazer. I feel bad if I don’t have a clear answer, although I realize that days without a clear answer are often the days when I learn the most (at least in balance when I ask myself this question).
We’ve shared this advice before, though it was something like “write down any new words you learned that day” or “keep a journal of new job skills as you learn them.”
When I tried to ask myself, “What did I learn today,” and honestly answered that question, some of the entries were actually work-related. (For example, on one occasion, I learned that I had misunderstood the editor’s instructions and drew attention to the misunderstanding to prevent this from happening in the future.)
But most of the tapes were personal, and many of them were about things that I already knew, but had to repeat to myself, for example, “if you don’t go to bed for 30 minutes after your usual bedtime, you will sleep less than you it is necessary, and you will feel tired next time. ” day. “Some of the notes were about things that I knew deep down , but had not yet articulated; putting these truths in writing helped me figure out how to deal with them.
Therefore, I highly recommend adding the “What I Learned Today” section to your daily diary. It will show you not only what you are learning, but it will also remind you to prioritize and appreciate what you already know.
It will also help you link what you are learning to what you need to do next. In my case, for example, I now have my laptop set to turn off every night at a specific time to help me prioritize and evaluate sleep – because I know sleep is important, but only after I realized this knowledge, I was able to act accordingly.
This is something that is often kept in a diary, and why it is such a powerful tool for so many people. Adding “what I learned today” to your journaling practice is just another way to hone this tool.